To be considered as a home for some of the chickens, contact Chrissy Dinardo at 720-410-9228.

Cannibalism. Infections. Fractured wings.

This is what Luvin Arms, an Erie sanctuary for farm animals, found when rescuing chickens from a farm in LaSalle.

The farmer had gone bankrupt and was trying to connect with zoos and wildlife organizations that could use the chickens as food for predators, but there were simply too many birds to place in time, according to Chrissy Dinardo, development director at Luvin Arms.

The farm housed 36,000 chickens evenly divided between three sheds on the property, despite advertising touting free-range chickens on its website, Dinardo said. When the farm ran out of money to pay a slaughterhouse, the farm workers started killing chickens by hand.

When the farmer started reaching out to zoos and other organizations, an East Coast rescue organization heard about the situation and contacted Luvin Arms. Over the course of six trips and six days, Luvin Arms staff and volunteers rescued 610 birds, Dinardo said.

Up until that point, the nonprofit's biggest rescue was about 10 birds.

"It's like, really, just all hands on-deck," she said.

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Donning hazmat suits to protect themselves from the feces that covered the birds and the floor of the sheds, rescuers encountered starved chickens that had resorted to cannibalism. Some were even biting off pieces of live birds, essentially eating them alive.

"It's very unnatural and very unhealthy," Dinardo said.

Some of the chickens had developed frostbite in the cold, as the farmer had run out of money for propane to heat the sheds. Two birds had compound fractures in their wings, which ultimately needed to be amputated. Others had eye infections, parasites and fungal infections, and even sepsis. About 26 birds needed intensive care and should be recovered by the end of the month, Dinardo said.

The farmer was fine with Luvin Arms, and other rescue organizations, taking the chickens, Dinardo said.

"They made sure that all of the birds got out of the farm in one way or another," she said.

Luvin Arms still is caring for about 200 of the rescued birds. The rest of the animals were sent to 31 states to live in sanctuaries or "micro-sanctuaries," where they won't be used for meat or egg production, but instead will be companion animals.

"Chickens aren't stupid," Dinardo said. "They're really curious."

Like ducks, mother hens will form strong bonds with their chicks when they're allowed to, and will even coo to their eggs.

The nonprofit is still looking for more homes for some of the remaining chickens. Luvin Arms plans to keep a flock of about 10 of the rescued birds at its sanctuary farm.

Dinardo said the 4-year-old nonprofit hadn't previously seen a situation like this in whicha farmer goes bankrupt and has to scramble to give the animals to someone else.

She said the sanctuary is grateful this farmer was looking for help, because many probably don't reach out for help. Now, the chickens have "a second chance at life."

Dinardo said this is an opportunity for people to "consider what's on your plate."

"If there is no demand for it, then stuff like this won't happen and the animals won't suffer," she added.

While the farmer's website used "buzz words" like free range and pasture-raised, those often have little meaning. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture website, free range simply means that the producers must show that the birds were allowed access to the outside, with no requirements on the duration or conditions.

"These terms, they are actually very misleading and don't mean much in terms of the quality of life of the animal," Dinardo said.

A pen housing chickens, including a chicken named Sam that had both wings amputated, is seen at Luvin Arms animal sanctuary in Erie on Jan. 14, 2019. The visitor center has been temporarily transformed into a barn for the chickens that were in the worst condition. (Matthew Jonas / Staff photographer)

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